New Delhi: India is gearing up to lead global discussions on land governance by presenting its transformative SVAMITVA scheme and Gram Manchitra platform at the World Bank Land Conference 2025, set to take place from May 5 to 8 at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC, an official release said on Sunday.
Leading the Indian delegation is Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, joined by Joint Secretary Alok Prem Nagar, Additional Surveyor General Shailesh Kumar Sinha, and senior officials from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The delegation will highlight the SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme in two pivotal sessions at the conference, themed “Securing Land Tenure and Access for Climate Action: Moving from Awareness to Action”.
Launched nationwide by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on National Panchayati Raj Day, April 24, 2021, after a successful pilot in nine states during 2020-21, SVAMITVA is a Central Sector Scheme aimed at establishing clear property ownership in rural inhabited (“Abadi”) areas. By employing drone technology and geospatial mapping, the scheme provides a ‘Record of Rights’ through legal ownership cards (property cards or title deeds) to village household owners. A collaborative effort involving the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Revenue Departments, State Panchayati Raj Departments, and Survey of India, SVAMITVA has issued property cards to over 24.4 million households across 1.6 lakh villages, mapping over 100 million property parcels and unlocking an estimated USD 1.162 trillion (approximately Rs 100 lakh crore) in land value.
The scheme’s objectives include creating accurate land records to reduce property disputes, enabling rural citizens to use properties as financial assets for loans, determining property tax to benefit Gram Panchayats or state exchequers, developing survey infrastructure and GIS maps for multi-departmental use, and supporting high-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs). Gram Manchitra, a geospatial platform, harnesses SVAMITVA’s high-resolution data to facilitate village-level planning, solar energy site selection, disaster mitigation, tax administration, and infrastructure development, aligning with climate-responsive governance.
At the conference, Bharadwaj will serve as a Country Champion in a plenary session on “Good Practices and Challenges in Land Tenure and Governance Reform”, showcasing SVAMITVA’s impact on rural property rights, women’s empowerment, and dispute resolution, contributing to SDG Target 1.4.2 on secure land tenure. Nagar will lead a technical session on “Establishing the Land Foundation for Climate Action and Disaster Risk Management”, demonstrating Gram Manchitra’s role in climate-aligned planning and disaster preparedness. The conference will unite global leaders, policymakers, and experts through plenary sessions, workshops, and an innovation expo to advance secure land tenure, modern land administration, and climate resilience.
India’s participation builds on its March 2025 international land governance workshop, where SVAMITVA’s digital mapping approach garnered interest from 22 countries. The scheme’s global relevance stems from its ability to monetise properties, enable institutional credit, reduce disputes, and enhance village planning, paving the way for rural self-reliance and Gram Swaraj.
On January 18, 2025, Modi distributed over 65 lakh property cards under SVAMITVA to households in over 50,000 villages across 10 states and two Union Territories, raising the total to 2.25 crore cards for 1.53 lakh villages. Speaking via video conference, Modi hailed the scheme as a historic milestone, stating, “We started the SVAMITVA Yojana to ensure village people receive papers for their residential property.” He noted that drone surveys, completed in 3.17 lakh villages (92% of the target), have digitised 98% of land records, with 23 crore Bhu-Aadhaar numbers issued, providing unique identities to land parcels.
Modi underscored SVAMITVA’s role in tackling global property rights challenges, referencing a United Nations study on undocumented properties and an economist’s concept of “dead capital”. By providing legal titles, the scheme has enabled bank loans, reduced disputes, and empowered Dalit, backwards, and tribal families. Full implementation could unlock economic activities worth over Rs 100 lakh crore, Modi estimated. The scheme has achieved saturation in Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Tripura, Goa, Uttarakhand, and Haryana, with surveys completed in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
The Prime Minister highlighted SVAMITVA’s contribution to Gram Swaraj, enhancing village planning, disaster management, and economic security. It supports property tax assessments, strengthens Gram Panchayats, and improves disaster compensation processes. Modi emphasised women’s empowerment, noting that many states include wives’ names on property cards, complementing initiatives like Namo Drone Didi, where women operate drones for mapping and agriculture.
Modi also outlined broader rural development efforts, including 2.5 crore families gaining electricity, 12 crore receiving tap water, and 8.25 lakh km of village roads built, nearly half in the last decade. Over 2 lakh Panchayats now have broadband, and Common Service Centres have grown to over 5 lakh. Agricultural support includes Rs 3.5 lakh crore via PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and Rs 2.25 lakh crore in crop insurance claims, with subsidies ensuring affordable fertilisers. These efforts have lifted 25 crore people out of poverty, Modi noted, crediting schemes like SVAMITVA for strengthening rural India.
The January event was attended virtually by Governors, Lieutenant Governors of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Chief Ministers of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh. Modi expressed confidence that SVAMITVA will transform rural India into a hub of development, aligning with the vision of a self-reliant nation.
– global bihari bureau
